Shreveport's Rock Solid camp needs donations to stay afloat

Shreveport's Rock Solid camp has been a refuge for local kids for more than a decade.

Now, they are asking for the public's help in keeping their doors open and the kids smiling.

“Sometimes these kids say to us, 'This is the best time of my life right here today,'” said Nancy Antley with Rock Solid.

Workers at Rock Solid day camp says they try not to turn anyone away, but expenses are piling up.

“We have more that are coming here that are not paying anything to be here, and that’s very hard to subsidize,” Antley said. "From food to rent, most of the money to pay for the campers is from donations. They just really need the love- they crave it- and they don’t want to go home in the afternoon.”

The camp gained local fame for teaching thousands of kids to swim for free.

“Every child that you teach to swim can impact 50 to 60 people, so even teaching them the basics of being able to tread water, to hold your breath, to put your face in the water for 20 to 30 seconds is something that, even in that basic amount of time, even in a week, what you can teach them, you can save their life,” Antley said.

To keep their mission going, they are asking the public's help.

"We really just need the community’s help to partner with us to keep this going, to keep these kids involved, to keep them in something that is constructive and positive- a place to go, to not be at home during the summer, by themselves, on the sofa playing video games,” Antley said.

It costs $70 to give a child swimming lessons. Rock Solid says any help, even if it’s just $10, would be huge for keeping the camp afloat. The public can donate by calling (318)402-7242.